PONTIAC, MI—The Michigan State Housing Development Authority is holding a grand opening Monday of the $20 million redevelopment of the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. department store in the downtown here.
The 80,000-sq.-ft. structure, located in the city's Commercial Historic District, is the largest construction investment in downtown Pontiac in about 30 years. The project, which includes the opening of Lafayette Place Lofts, Lafayette Market and Anytime Fitness Center, is the city's newest success story that culminates the completion of the state's $13.7 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 initiative to help revitalize the city’s Downtown Business District and Unity Park neighborhood.
As part of the opening, the authority is also hosting a tour of the city, the seat of the prosperous Oakland County and once one of the major business hubs in Michigan but now one of the poorest and rundown communities in the Detroit suburbs. The tour will feature some of the nearly 50 blighted properties that have been demolished in the Unity Park neighborhood and surrounding downtown business district. In addition, 56 loft apartments have been redeveloped, including the upscale 10 West Lofts multiuse development, and 18 new single-family homes have been constructed and are being sold as part of the federally funded initiative coordinated by the state, city and county.